New Adult Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to New Adult Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was inspired as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 96 hours!

Go to the New Adult Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs!

***THE SCAVENGER HUNT***

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my lucky book number. Collect the lucky book numbers of all the authors, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by December 30th, at noon Eastern Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

LET THE HUNT BEGIN!

*** MEET MISSY DE GRAFF, AUTHOR OF THE ROGUE’S FATE ***

Missy has always been an avid reader and lover of all things that go bump in the night, but it wasn’t until 2009 that she was inspired by a friend and coworker to begin putting pen to paper. She began weaving together worlds of romance and intrigue, mixed with paranormal elements, suspenseful storylines,and addicting characters.

Missy reside in Virginia at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains with her husband and son. She can often be found wandering through their Southern Heirloom Apple Orchard with their mountain cur and barns cats close on her heels. She is a bohemian by nature and a Gemini by birth.

If your life hung in the balance, would you choose to make your own destiny or leave your life to fate?

Lucinda Raven, lone wolf shifter, is being hunted by her ex-lover, a controlling rogue Alpha, who is determined to perform the sacred mating ritual that will bind them together forever. Knowing nothing will keep him from carrying out his ruthless plan, Lucinda is on the run and seeks refuge in the territory of an old friend.

Caidan Moone, cursed Alpha of the Blood Moone Pack, has a tortured history that haunts him daily. He sees the arrival of this beautiful and alluring nomad as a chance at redemption from his prior failures and invites her to stay, despite the danger it brings to the entire pack.

As Caidan and Lucinda grow closer, her two worlds collide and Lucinda must face the events of her dark past in order to save the future. Will Caidan be able to protect her without sacrificing his pack? Or will she end up bearing the mark of her psychotic ex?

A dark shadow looms outside and circles the cabin. It stops underneath the window and paces back and forth as the morning sun rises. The silhouette of a wolf stretches along the leaf-scattered ground. I know who it is before he enters. Caiden. Alpha of the Blood Moone Pack and my true Fated Mate.

His once striking solid white wolf is turning a dingy gray as the cursed beast residing within him fights for control. Damn that witch for cursing him all those years ago. Though, it wasn’t until recently, when him and I met, that the beast began to change him.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Caiden says after he shifts from his wolf-beast to human form.

“Yup, I’m here.” My legs dangle over the edge of the couch and my bare feet wiggle to get warm by the heat of the fire. The cabin is Caiden’s special place, deep in the woods away from everyone and everything. He comes here when he needs to relax and unwind. I come here to get away from daily pack life.

Caiden crosses the room and my heart flutters watching his nakedness as he heads to the bedroom. My ears perk up at the sound of drawers opening and closing and then he walks back into view wearing red plaid flannel pants and an oatmeal-colored thermal shirt. My lips twitch exposing a wry smile. Damn, he looks sexy.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

“Yeah.” But everything is far from okay. I’m freaking out. Caiden and I are at the center of attention. I have a twenty-page survey to complete for the planning of our mating ceremony, and that’s just to decide what food to serve.

I close my eyes and turn my head away from Caiden.

As the daughter of an Alpha, I was raised to be a Luna, wife of an Alpha, leader of a pack. So, I know what’s expected of me as the mate of an Alpha. But I’ve always done what I wanted and when I wanted to do it. The list of rules and regulations the Blood Moone pack has–not to mention their unwritten traditions and unspoken expectations–is daunting.

When I was born, my father promised my hand in marriage to Dylan, my childhood bestfriend until that damn witch cursed him too. And now he’s Caiden’s Beta, second-in-command, I smirk at the irony of our complicated history. We’re still working to salvage our prior friendship, and he’s still the only one to call me Lux. But, I’m realizing now that my time alone as a rogue, forced by Dylan to live outside of a pack, changed me in ways that I don’t think will ever be fixed.

“Then what’s up?” Caiden asks.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Lie. Why am I lying to Caiden? He’s my mate, and not just my mate by marriage, but my Fated Mate; our souls are bound to each other by fate. I should trust him with everything. Don’t I expect the same from him? Would he–has he ever lied to me? I watch him through the small slits of my eyes. No, I don’t think he would ever lie to me. My heart drops to my stomach and I suddenly feel queasy for lying to him.

He lifts my legs and sits on the couch, placing my legs across his lap.

With a calm tone he says, “Lucinda, I can tell when something’s bothering you.”

“No–” I take a deep breath and let out a long sigh. My shoulders slump forward and my chin dips to my chest. Do I look as pathetic as I feel? A quick glance to Caiden’s piercing stare answers my question.

“I know you want to slow things down,” he says. “But our pack has certain traditions that we can’t ignore.” My pulse quickens at the thought of the Mating Ceremony and the Alpha’s Ritual. Why am I nervous?

“I told Mia to lay off the planning for a few weeks, but as the Alpha, the pack holds me to a certain standard.” He leans his head back and runs his hands through his hair.

“By claiming you the way I did and keeping it a secret, we already broke several of the traditions.” I know it weighs heavy on him. Breaking tradition, as other pack members have made very clear, is a major taboo.

“I know.” I reach up and brush his cheek with the back of my fingers. As our skin touches, the little sparks soothe nerves and I smile.

Caiden leans his head against my fingers and says, “Mia thinks she can drag out the planning for several months, but not more than a year.” Caiden reaches out and rubs my cheek with his thumb and I lean into his touch.

Bless Mia Moone, my best friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law. I know she’s excited about planning the ceremony; but I also know she secretly worries about her brother. I think she hopes that once he’s officially mated, his wolf-beast will calm down.

“Will that give you enough time to settle whatever it is, or are you having second thoughts about us?” Caiden asks.

“What? No, never.” I crawl over and straddle him so I can stare into his never-ending blue eyes. “Caiden Lee Moone, I love you with every piece of my shattered heart. You found each part and glued it back into place with your kindness and affection. I will never doubt our love or regret our mating.”

“Then what is it?” he asks.

I fidget on his lap and he grabs my hips to hold me still. Leaning forward I lay my head on his shoulder and whisper, “Your pack is overwhelming.”

The jerk of his head and change in his heartbeat, causes me to shift my weight. I lean back and study him. His eyebrows knit together and a deep crease forms across his forehead.

I shrug my shoulders. Is this a surprise, or did I offend him?

I bite my lower lip and say, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s me.”

“Talk to me, tell me what’s going on in that head of yours,” he says and taps on my forehead. “Especially since you won’t use the damn mindlink.” Yeah, because that is just another rule you broke by giving it to me before I am officially accepted into the pack.

I snuggle closer to him and his arms tighten around me. His scent of bergamot wraps around me and my inner wolf calms my racing pulse.

“I haven’t really been part of a pack for a while–”

“It’s only been five years,” Caiden says. True, but a lot happened in those five years. I’ll never sleep the same again, well, unless I’m wrapped in my security blanket of bergamot.

“It’s actually been much longer. Ever since the bond first struck and Dylan stepped away from me, well, he was the to-be Alpha so everyone took his lead. They left me alone and I was treated as an outcast in my own pack.”

“I had no idea–”

“It’s not your fault. Dylan probably doesn’t even realize it either,” I say. “And your pack is at least five times the size of mine, so it’s a lot to take in.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re my mate and nothing else matters,” he says while twirling a piece of my long chestnut hair between his fingers.

Yeah, I’m your mate. That’s the problem, but I can’t tell him that. He won’t understand.What else am I, though? Where do I belong in the pack, other than the Alpha’s Mate?

“What is it, four more weeks and you’ll have met everyone in the pack,” Caiden says. As if that’s supposed to cheer me up.

Yeah, four more weeks of pure hell. If only he knew what those stupid parties were like–everyone judging you based on how you look and what you say. I hate that tradition with a passion.

“How are the meet and greet sessions going?” Caiden asks.

“You mean the weekly potential new member parties?”

He smirks disapprovingly at me.

“Oh they’re swell,” I say with sarcasm dripping from my lips.

Under normal circumstances, one of the Blood Moone Pack’s traditions is that a new person who wants to join the pack will socialize with the current members for a time period and then the pack members vote–yay or nay. But with the large influx of people wanting to join after leaving Felix’s band of rogues, the Elders created these parties where groups of twenty potential new members meet with roughly fifty pack members in a casual setting to socialize, and the groups rotate each week. It’s been a long six weeks and there are still four more to go.

But, these people are more than happy to do what it takes to get away from Felix. Most of them have been with him for so long they didn’t know another lifestyle existed. Living in the wilderness, on the run, constantly moving and looking over your back–is no way to raise a family. Living in misery and fear of your leader… I shake my head remembering what it was like to live among them, when I was memorized by Felix, the rogue alpha.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Caiden asks.

I shake my head against his chest.

“Are you sure? Because your heartbeat is racing,” he says.

Just tell him already. The problem is us. The pack rumor mill is torture. The members treat me differently because I’m the Alpha’s mate. They’re either extra warm and friendly, or cool and distant. If I’m lucky they’ll be indifferent. Though, I’m more interested in those that are borderline hostile. One woman accused me of special treatment. Which is when I decided I wanted to be accepted on my own merits, not because of who my mate is.

Tears well up in my eyes and threaten to fall. Damn it.

I love Caiden so much, but sometimes I wish we waited to mark each other. I wish we took things slow and followed their stupid traditions. Then I could’ve been accepted, or not accepted, into the pack for who I am, not because Caiden’s scent is all over me and threatening their judgment.

“Lucinda,” Caiden’s voice pulls me from my thoughts and he wipes away a tear that escaped. “Talk to me.”

I take a deep breath and say, “Sabrina’s always there.”

He nods and then kisses my cheeks, my forehead, and my lips in the most gentle kiss he’s ever given me. I close my eyes and slow my breathing. I don’t deserve him.

“I know. The Elders reprimanded her with Community Service and part of that includes potential new member activity,” he says.

Sabrina deserves a more harsh reprimand for what she did; instigating an over throw of the alpha–community service is a slap on the hand. I roll my eyes. Sabrina is like a slimy worm, able to wiggle into and out of whatever she wants and I don’t understand why. I’m glad her and Dylan are no longer dating. That is something I couldn’t condone as Luna of this pack.

I’m grateful that in his spare time, Caiden is teaching me the inner workings of the pack politics, which include different programs and organizations they have. Caiden said he’ll help me find a position after I’m accepted into the Pack. But at the new member meetings, they tell us it’s hard for new pack members to get a position. Why is everything so complicated? And I stilld on’t understand the role of the Elders.

“I thought Mia ran the Community Outreach Programs?” I ask.

His lips move down my neck, and he breaths against my warming skin sending little shockwaves traveling through my body.

“She does,” he murmurs. “But since she was busy with Sammy and Grace’s ceremony, she was too distracted to fight against the Elders decision.”

A small smile plays at my lips. Sammy and Grace. I’m so happy for them. Their mating ceremony was flawless, just like their uncomplicated love and pack life will be. They left for their ultimate honeymoon with no specified timeframe for their return.

At the mention of her name, his ocean blue eyes flash red, and I know the cursed beast within him is fighting for control. Does he realize how often it happens? It happens more often than not these days. Our small intimate group of those directly involved decided it best not to disclose everything to the pack. So we didn’t tell them about Caiden, Dylan, or even Felix’s curse. Gavin said, ‘In simple terms, it’s on a need to know basis and the general public doesn’t need to know.’

I couldn’t agree more. Mia and Gavin make the perfect couple. I can’t think of anyone more worthy of eachother than the two of them. My heart warms remembering the first time they met.

Of course, Caiden’s escalating aggression and mood swings haven’t gone unnoticed by the pack members, so it’s just another thing they blame on me. One lady called me ‘scandalous’. But she didn’t stop there, she continued to verbally batter me. First, I caused Caiden to break pack tradition, and then also to break the pack rules. What’s next? Where will it end? And the sad part is, she’s right.

The red flaming orbs have overtaken Caiden’s eyes and his movements become forced and jerky. He flips me over onto my back so that I’m laying sprawled on the couch, and he hovers over top of me. His red eyes roam my body and he licks his lips with a hungry gaze.

“No,” I say and scoot out from under his body. Rolling off the couch, I land on the floor with a thump. Turning back to Caiden and his penetrating stare, I muster all my control and say, “Not right now. I’m not in the mood.”

I stand up and rush to the bedroom without sparing another look back. I want Caiden more than ever, but not like this, not when his beast has control.

After entering the room, I make the mistake of turning around to close the door. My eyes find his and lock in an intense stare. His Alpha calling to me; his wolf calling to his mate. It takes all my strength to ignore him and not be submissive. I flash a painful smile through the small opening before latching and locking the door. I flop onto the bed, curling up under the covers to wait out the tantrum of the beast in the other room.

To enter, you need to know that my lucky book number is 16.

Add up all the lucky numbers of the authors and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

*** CONTINUE THE HUNT ***

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author